EDU424: Critical Reflection on ESL Policies & Indigenous Outcomes

This essay critically reflects on the effectiveness of current English as a Second Language (ESL) education policies, programs, and services in Australia and their impact on Indigenous Australian students. It explores how these policies inform student outcomes, equity, and the quality of school education, considering public and media rhetoric, as well as the Christian obligation to support social justice. The essay discusses the role of ESL policies in assisting schools, the importance of English language competence for Indigenous Australians, and the government's efforts to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It also addresses the cultural sensitivity of teachers, the importance of community involvement, and the need for system-level action to improve educational experiences for Indigenous students.

Running head: EDUCATION POLICIES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Education Policies for Indigenous Australians
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1EDUCATION POLICIES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Education Policy comprises of the principles in the educational sphere that helps in
operating the education system. The educational policy in Australia focuses on the aspect of
improving that of the educational outcome along with well-being of the indigenous Australians
so that they can excel in all the aspects in relation to education (Santoro et al., 2011). This essay
focuses on the effectiveness pertaining to ESL educational policy in Australia and the effect that
ESL education has on the indigenous students of Australia. It focuses on the quality of the school
education in terms of the media rhetoric. It states how the promotion of social justice is an
important aspect for the Christians and how providing equal opportunities in relation to
education can help in the promotion in equality within the Australian society.
English as a Second Language (ESL) policies helps in assisting the schools in Australia
in the delivering of the ESL programmes on the basis of the linguistic along with the cultural
needs of the student. The instructions are delivered on the basis of the stage of the schooling. I
think that learning English is crucial for the success of the indigenous Australians and it can
augment their opportunities pertaining to employment. According to me, educating the
indigenous Australians with English as the additional language can help in developing their
English language competence and it can improve the learning outcome of the students in
Australia. It can help them in the aspect of pursuing of further education along with training.
EAl/ D education is currently provided at the primary, high school and at the intensive English
Centre (Johnson, Cherednichenko & Rose, 2016). The literacy plans in Australia make it a point
that money is not required pertaining to these programs that helps many indigenous Australians
to take the advantage of this facility. Australia has aacted like a leader in the arena of researching
and teaching of ESL recently as the Commonwealth has allocated funds so that it can be of

2EDUCATION POLICIES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
benefit for the students. Specialist ESL teachers have been appointed in some schools that
greatly helps the indigenous Australians. ESL taskforce has prepared policy framework for that
of the Ministerial Council of Education.
The Aboriginal Education and Training Policy have been developed after collaboration
with the Aboriginal communities that helps in providing policy advice for that of the employees.
I think that aboriginal education can increase the cultural competency of the Aboriginal staff in
an organization (Aihw.gov.au., 2014). The Government of Australia has been determined to
close the gap between that of the indigenous and the non-indigenous Australians. According to
me, parents, communities along with the government should act like partners for providing
education to the indigenous Australians. They can work in collaboration that can help in
improving the quality of education provided to the indigenous Australians. I think that the
Remote School Attendance Strategy of the Australian government can help in engaging the
schools along with the community organizations. It can play an effective role in ensuring that the
children attend school on everyday basis (Malcolm, 2011). The Government is involved in
funding programmes that can help in providing practical support to the young indigenous
Australians in the different areas where a large number of youths are unemployed. According to
me, the Remote Jobs and Communities Programme can help in establishing new business for the
indigenous Australians.
I think that the teachers knowing how the mental structure of the indigenous students are
different from that of the non-indigenous students can play an important role in mitigating the
differences that is embedded in the Australian society. It is more important that the teachers are
sensitive to the demands of the students that can help the students in learning properly and
quickly (Wigglesworth, Simpson & Loakes, 2011). According to me, the development of

3EDUCATION POLICIES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
particular knowledge in the indigenous student is neglected in the event of the teacher thinking
the knowledge to be culturally inappropriate. There are many teachers who neglect the aspect of
written literacy pertaining to the indigenous Australians. The indigenous Australians hence finds
it difficult to assimilate in Australian society (Lewthwaite et al., 2015).
The Aboriginal students work for that of the collective good instead of focusing on the
arena of individual achievement. Aboriginal students focus on the aspect of what the groups can
achieve on collective basis. According to me, community involvement can be made use of that
can help in providing education to the indigenous Australians. The Aboriginal children within
Australia have English as the third or the fourth language. I think that the teachers should be
capable of explaining things in different ways that can help the indigenous Australians in the
aspect of understanding and learning. It will have a positive influence on the students and it can
help in ensuring equality pertaining to school education (Altman, 2018). The education system
in Australian schools should be such that it can address the concern along with needs of both the
indigenous along with the non-indigenous Australians. The outcome of the indigenous
Australians can be augmented by encouraging the cultural pride of the Aboriginal students.
According to me, the quality of the school education according to the public rhetoric has
undergone a lot of improvement in the recent times however there still exists a gap between the
indigenous and the non-indigenous students. The public rhetoric regarding the indigenous
students revolves around the well-being of the indigenous students. Sustained improvements
have been made in relation to the education of the indigenous Australians that has built respect
along with trust among the indigenous communities. The public rhetoric has pointed out the the
role that the indigenous parents along with the leaders for brining about improvements pertaining
to the education of the indigenous Australians. The formal agreements between the indigenous

4EDUCATION POLICIES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
leaders and the education leaders have proved to be successful in setting out the provision
pertaining to education of the indigenous students. According to me, Closing the Gap framework
of the Australian government can be said to be an excellent example of the time-bound target
that has helped in removing the differences between the indigenous and that of the non-
indigenous Australians (Day et al., 2015). The media has pointed out that progress made
pertaining to the target of Closing the Gap has been quite disappointment. I think that system
level action can help to a great extent in changing the educational experiences for the indigenous
students of Australia. According to me, system level effort can help in initiating the process of
change at local level but the local provisions can help in determining what kind of influence it
will have on the indigenous students of Australia. There should be quality teachers who can
adapt to different contexts that can help in providing education to the indigenous Australians.
There should be personalized academic programs along with guidance system that can help in
the cause of providing proper education to the indigenous Australians.
The Christians in the society have an obligation of supporting the social justice and they
believe in the fact that an individual should be committed for the promotion of social justice in
the society. The Christians believe in the fact that one should adopt a lifestyle that is suited to the
social responsibility. I think that the policies and programmes in Australia aimed to benefit the
indigenous Australians is an act of social justice as it can being about the development of the
Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander. The educational policies and programmes can improve
the lives of the indigenous Australians and improve their standard of living. It can close the gap
that exists between the indigenous and the non-indigenous Australians and bring them together
in the society. The Australian government wants to improve the life chances of the Indigenous

5EDUCATION POLICIES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Australians by the help of education. It helps in promoting social justice as it aims at achieving
equality in relation to education of the non-indigenous Australians.
The policies in relation to ESL programme can help in meeting the cultural needs of the
indigenous Australians. Learning the English language can greatly help the indigenous
Australians and it can augment their employment opportunities. Aboriginal education can
increase cultural competencies of the indigenous Australians. It can close the gap that prevails
between indigenous and that of non-indigenous Australians. The teachers being capable of
explaining a particular thing in different ways can work greatly to the benefit of the indigenous
Australians. It can ensure the fact there exists equity within the Australian educational system.
The public rhetoric has stated that improvements have been brought about in the education
system of the indigenous Australians but there still remains a gap between indigenous and non-
indigenous students. The educational policies can be useful for the indigenous Australians and it
can aid in promoting social justice within the Australian social structure. It can pave the path for
the developing of the Aboriginal people and can improve their standard of life. System Level
effort can help in bringing about changes at that of the local level and the local provisions can
have an influence on the aspect of learning of the indigenous students of Australia.

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References:
Acara.edu.au. (2011). English as an Additional Language or Dialect: Teacher
Resource [Ebook]. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au
Aihw.gov.au. (2014). Positive learning environments for Indigenous children and young
people [Ebook]. Lucy Ockenden. Retrieved from
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/positive-learning-environments-
for-indigenous-chil/contents/table-of-contents
Altman, J. (2018). In search of an outstations policy for Indigenous Australians. Canberra, ACT:
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences,
College of Arts & Social Sciences, The Australian National University.
Day, A., Nakata, V., Nakata, M., & Martin, G. (2015). Indigenous students' persistence in higher
education in Australia: contextualising models of change from psychology to understand
and aid students' practices at a cultural interface. Higher Education Research &
Development, 34(3), 501-512.
Johnson, P., Cherednichenko, B., & Rose, M. (2016). Evaluation of the More Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative project.
Lewthwaite, B., Osborne, B., Lloyd, N., Llewellyn, L., Boon, H., Webber, T., ... & Harrison, M.
(2015). Seeking a pedagogy of difference: What Aboriginal students and their parents in
North Queensland say about teaching and their learning. Australian Journal of Teacher
Education (Online), 40(5), 132.

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Malcolm, I. G. (2011). Issues in English language assessment of Indigenous
Australians. Language Assessment Quarterly, 8(2), 190-199.
Santoro, N., Reid, J. A., Crawford, L., & Simpson, L. (2011). Teaching Indigenous children:
Listening to and learning from Indigenous teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher
Education, 36(10), 65-76.
Wigglesworth, G., Simpson, J., & Loakes, D. (2011). Naplan language assessments for
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Linguistics, 34(3), 320-343.